THE NIGHT OF PROMISES

Sitting in the small room without windows, I stayed there waiting for someone to come speak to me. It was a standard interrogation room; a table in the middle with two chairs, a one-way mirror just in front of where I was sitting, and a clock. An extremely noisy clock. Much more noisy than the usual "ticking" of a standard clock. I knew the method; I knew of the water drop which fell at regular intervals - to make any prisoner crazy…To push him. Make him nervous to extract information more easily. Effective on a normal person, except that I was not normal. No. I had experienced almost all these methods; those I hadn't were fine tuned on other people.

"Tik-tok".

2.45a.m. Two hours I'm here, sitting in the same position. I had not budged an inch, the expectation was also part of their methods. Except that now it was really starting to annoy me.

"Tik-tok".

A man finally entered the room. And the game begins. I examined him - tall, blond, late forties maybe fifty. He took the chair in front of me, looking me right in the eyes. He was sure to catch the slightest change in my behaviour. I decided to take the floor.

"I think that I have waited long enough for you; you have observed me and you must know by now that your methods have no effect on me."

He arched an eyebrow. "What methods?"

"Oh please… The expectation, the clock".

He hardly suppressed a smile. "The clock?"

"I must say that it's more refined than the drop of water, the effect remains the same however"

"But not on you." It was an assertion, not a question. I decided to answer still.

"No."

"Why?" He asked.

"I was formed to resist."

"What was your role in the army?"

"We were a group of soldiers trained for specific missions, dismantling terrorist groups, recovery of the hostage…things like that."

Why I replied so easily…? Oh yes it was my pass. Play the role.

"So what, exactly, I am supposed to say?" I asked of my superiors.

"Just that you infiltrated the Volturi on your own, in the thought of denouncing them once the evidence was gathered," replied Esme calmly.

"Why do they have problems in working with us? Isn't it in our interest to stop them?"

"Because we give them the dirty work, if they learn that you are one of ours they wouldn't even want to hear of you," sighed Jenks.

"You have spent too much time on this to blow it all B, you know that…." The voice of wisdom; Esme.

"Well…I am already damned. Why not lie some more."

"Don't forget - remain as close as possible to the truth. The less you will have to lie; the easier it will be for you."

"Yet you stopped?" He continued to ask, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I was kindly thanked with honors, apparently my time there had come to an end." I said with a serene smile that didn't quite match my feelings.

"Tell me what I'm doing here, even if I have some idea." I finally asked after a moment of silence.

"I want you on my team," he declared.

"Okay, well, this isn't at all what I was thinking…"

"I want your help with the Volturi," he added in a firm voice.

Play the surprise. I opened my mouth, closed it, and finally spoke. "Listen, I…I. Who is behind this glass? " I asked, gesturing to the one-way mirror.

"No one." He said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Who are you exactly?" I asked. I did, already, assume a semblance of an answer.

"An elite unit of special forces."

If I have this discussion, I have to do it properly. A person who would really be in my case would probably ask more questions.

"What do you expect of me, exactly?"

He appeared slightly annoyed. "Like I said before; I want you on my team. I want your help with the Volturi.".

"Do I have a choice?"

"I can always deliver you to the authorities, but you will not be returning to work for the Volturi."

Time for the confusion. "The authorities? This is not what you are?"

"No, we are a group of force authorized by the State but independent of them." I pulled the puzzled look. "We have our own rules and do not account to other people. The Government sends us missions and we are often in collaboration with the FBI; we don't concern ourselves with the fate of the men being arrested."

I nodded with feigned wonder. "So if I understand - you do what you want to do and the Government is okay with it? You have free reign? "I asked.

"Yes."

"That's…awesome."

"So what's your answer?"

I took my time to tell him the answer that I had made a dozen times in my head. "Listen; I'm not stupid. I know that I am not part of the army anymore. I never wanted to be part of the Volturi." I sighed and lowered my voice. "I wanted to infiltrate them, remove the maximum information before contacting the FBI to do the necessary." I finished.

He looked at me with wide eyes at my admission. "Was it a success?"

"Infiltrating the Volturi?" He nodded. "Well, yes. About a year ago, now."

He paused, seeming thoughtful. "For a year... You have to have a good reason to do it on your own. Can I askwhat your motives are?"

"Well, it's rather simple. They killed my father." He patiently waited for me to reveal more information. "After the army, Aro had come to see me to propose a deal. I had drawn their attention, but I refused. A few days later I found my father shot in the head with his own weapon. The police said it was suicide, but I knew it was them."

"So it's revenge?"

"Call it what you like, I just want to have the guarantee that Aro is arrested and to be part of the team that drags the bastard in."

He offered me his first real smile. "I think I can arrange that. I'm Carlisle Cullen; the one who built this group." He explained. "We can talk about the details later, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team." He walked towards the door, keeping it open for me.

"What?" He asked seeing I did not move.

"Uh, I don't have real appropriate clothing." I said pointing to my short baby doll.

Carlisle appeared to think a few seconds before recovering. "Think of it as your hazing."

My mouth gaped open at his statement.

"Welcome to the team!"

ooOOoo

We were both in what he called the meeting room, seated around a large round glass table with Carlisle to my left. The door opened and four people, two men and two women, all visibly in different stages of wakefulness. When all eyes were on me I crossed my arms and held their stare with a blank face.

"Sit." Ordered Carlisle. "Well, I have a new recruit to present to you." He looked at them one by one. "Where is he?"

"Oh, number-two was hard to wake up. He's going to be grumpy..." Replied the more bulky of the two men, with a smile.

"Who is number-two?" I asked Carlisle.

He rolled his eyes. "The nickname of my son."

"A family enterprise …" I thought to myself.

When the door slammed shut, everyone turned toward it. My breath caught at the sight of the alleged "number-two".

' Promise me that whatever happens it'll always be you and me...Just the two of us.'

Dear God, tell me it's not him. After four years without a word. Four years thinking that he was dead. Lord, please not him. This was not his father. No…no…no. I refused to believe he was here. It could not be …I was just in my bed…I'll wake up soon…

"Edward Anthony Cullen!" Cried his… father.

I quickly composed myself, wearing my emotionless mask. He tipped off the edge of his cap, meeting the gaze of his father, then finally mine. He stared a few seconds, muttering to himself. The word 'crazy' slipped out under his breath, then he turned to the door, shook his head, scrubbed his eyes before looking back at me with a frown.

Yes it's me! Anthony Masen! I wanted to shout. While a small voice in my head reminding me that his real name was Cullen. Edward Cullen.

Lord, I had cried for four years over the absence of a man I finally realized I didn't even know. It was sickening.

He opened his mouth but I cut off the tumble of words off his tongue. "Isabella Swan" I introduced myself with a cold voice. "And you must be A…Edward Cullen." I turned my gaze to the Cullen Patriarch. "Well, number two is here. Could we start?"

He stood up and walked to a draped board. "Okay! As I told you earlier Isabella will be part of our team. She spent seven years in the army…blah blah blah…"

I shake my head, amused.

"And here is my team," he made a grimace, gesturing to each of them. "So you have Jasper Withlock." He pointed out the blond guy with blue eyes. "Expert in aviation and martial arts. Next to him is Alice Brandon, her thing is uh…the gadgets of any kind. " The girl called Alice - small with short black hair and a friendly gaze - gave me a big smile. "Rosalie Hale, mechanist and weapons." Blonde with big blue eyes. She might even be really beautiful if not for the haughty eyes. She gave me a curt nod. "Emmett McCarty, computer hacker." Built like a bear with a playful smile. "And Edward, he plays with a little of everything. He also oversees this team."

Better and better, I almost sighed when someone knocked and opened the door.

"The folder you asked for, Chief."

A quick look at the person and I recognized him immediately. "Hey how is your jaw?" I asked him, sarcasm present in my tone.

He threw me a cold look, opened his mouth, moved his jaw from right to left before closing it in a loud snap and responded. "Better now!"

"Were you not supposed to be hooded?" Asked Carlisle, coldly.

"Oh they were… I am just excellent in the art of physiognomy.".

"Where is Demetri? I haven't seen him since you've arrived." Carlisle continued.

The newcomer danced nervously from one foot to another. "He's just recovering."

"Recovering." Repeated Carlisle, watching me. I rolled my eyes. "Felix," he urged, seeing that he would not retrieve an answer from me.

"He received a kick in the…you know" Felix said, stealthily.

Carlisle gazed at me, hardly attempting to hide his smile. "Have you emasculated one of my men, Miss Swan?"

"It's very unpleasant to be wakened by four hands touching you," I justified. "Especially when they are not invited," I added for Felix.

Emmett's laughter sounded in the room. "Oh man, it was only her against you two; while she was sleeping!"

He went and put the file on the table. "If you no longer need me, Sir."

"You can go," said Carlisle. He slipped the folder, which had my name on it, onto the table. "All the missions in which she participated; if it interests someone."

"Mine!" Emmett swerved ahead of Alice's searching hands.

"Good, if she's here today it's not only to rebuild the effective. The FBI sends us a new case."

"What kind of case?" Asked Edward.

Carlisle headed to the board, laying his hands on the white sheet. "Are you ready?" He asked. When he had everyone's attention, he drew back the sheet theatrically. "Taa-daah."

On the whiteboard were the pictures of the Volturi by hierarchy. The five faces darkened immediately. "What is this, a joke?" Dared to ask his son.

"No." He replied simply.

"Why did you not tell me before?"

His father raised his hands before him. "No one was aware, I did not want to talk about it before having all the means in hand to complete this mission."

"I suppose she is the means?" Asked Rosalie. My hand was starting to itch furiously.

"She'll surely be the key to this case, yes."

"And how is that?" Asked Jasper.

"She's in contact with the Volturi…."

"The missions you did were not for rookies." Interrupted Emmett, nose in my folder.

"Accurate." I said.

"You know what we called this kind of mission when I was still in the army." He made a break and looked me in the eyes. "Suicide missions."

"They are always called that." He didn't teach me anything new; I knew very well what kind of mission I partook. The risks taken were never hidden.

He dove back in my folder. "At that time they were based on volunteering. Is that always the case?"

"Always."

"Not a single one missed."

This was not a question, my record spoke for me.

"Then you're what? Suicidal? "

Oh Blondie was really looking for blood.

I rolled my eyes. "During seven fucking years I had weapons at hand. Do you think I would really be before you if I was suicidal?" I wasn't even trying to hide the venom in my voice.

"I was just wondering, with a record like yours, why the army let you go…" She continued innocently.

"Oh you know what they say," Laughed Alice. "When they send you by force to the country, you find yourself in a casket or an asylum." Her attempt to relax the atmosphere failed miserably, a few set of eyes stared at me, waiting for a response. Pathetic.

"I'm obviously not in a coffin. Who knew… " I said sarcastically, not finishing my sentence.

"Sorry." Alice apologized hastily. "That's not what I meant, it's just a stupid joke for soldiers."

"Oh, Medal of honors, huh? What did you do to get that? "Asked Emmett, attempting to visibly divert the conversation.

"I killed." I said coldly.

"We've all killed here." He brought to attention.

I tapped my fingers on the table, reflecting on what I wanted to reveal. "Okay… it was my last mission suicide. It was messed, like seriously screwed up. It was supposed to be the less dangerous of the missions. Just a round trip. Except that the ambush was not discussed in the plan. My teammates fell one by one, until there were two. "I closed my eyes a moment and brushed the plates which were never leaving my neck. "We tried our best to regain the hand but I ended alone. It was no more a mission. I returned to the camp two days later. A survivor, a miracle… They congratulated me and awarded me the Medal, just to redeem their minds. They have fucked up and never acknowledged their mistakes. So you see this medal represents nothing." I say to Emmett before looking at Rosalie. "In their humble hypocrisy, they also proposed me a more-than-anticipated retirement. That I have accepted of course!" I finished ironically while she sank a little more in her seat.

"You deserved this medal." Emmett said gently.

I laughed, a snarky, humorless laugh. "It is now six feet underground…where it should be" I said out loud to myself.

"Stop it!" I jumped to the sound of his voice. Edward. He had closed his eyes, his hands in tight fists. "Please just stop it." He opened his eyes, a mixture of anger, sadness and guilt. "Don't say that ever again."

'Promise me to never take risks voluntarily'

'Promise me to not play the hero'

'Promise me you'll stay alive…for me'